UFC News: Al Iaquinta claims ‘sissy’ Conor McGregor would lose rematch with Khabib

What’s the story?

As the long-awaited return of Conor McGregor appears to be getting ever closer, fellow lightweight contender Al Iaquinta has taken a moment to air his opinions on McGregor and his current status in the UFC.

In case you didn’t know…

McGregor has been out of action since he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov last October at UFC 229. However, Conor has been vocal about the fact he wants a rematch and believes he would win.

Despite having lost his only UFC fight since 2016, McGregor, quite rightly, still hold a lot clout with Dana White and the executives at the UFC, and a rematch with Nurmagomedov has never been ruled out, despite the dominant nature of Khabib’s win over the Notorious in 2018.

The heart of the matter

When speaking to TMZ, Iaquinta had this to say about the controversial Irishman:

“I don’t think he’s getting a rematch because there’s guys that are working their way back, guys that are getting wins. His stock’s not as high as he thinks it is. He got finished in his last fight. As far as everyone’s concerned, he’s dead. The ref had to pull the guy off him. He looked like a sissy tapping out like that. So he’s got to come back and get a win, and he’s not doing it. And if he does get a rematch, he’s going to get beat again. It’s going to be the same thing. That’s a fight that you need heart for, and he doesn’t have it.”

Iaquinta seems somewhat skeptical of Conor’s motivation to step into the cage recently. To help prove his point, the New Yorker took a moment to compare McGregor’s performance against Khabib to his own:

“He got finished by Khabib and he had all the time in the world to prepare for that fight. I took the fight with Khabib on a day’s notice and I showed my toughness. We’d still be fighting right now if there was no ref. If there was no time on the fight, I’m fighting forever. I’m fighting till I die. Conor’s not doing that. So I mean, I think that’s the fight that really makes the most sense, but he’s selling whiskey and he’s doing other things.”

What’s next?

Although Iaquinta raises some interesting points when discussing the current state of McGregor’s fighting career, it does seem there may be an ulterior motive for his words.

When asked if he would like to face McGregor when he returns to the UFC, Iaquinta said: “That would make the most sense out of everything”.

Currently, all talk of McGregor’s comeback can only be attributed to pure speculation, although if recent rumors are to believed, it does seem as though we could be seeing the Notorious fighting again sooner rather than later.